Got A Secret?
by sburke94
Summary: Picks up after the end of Episode 6.
1. Chapter 1

**Got A Secret?: Chapter 1: Into the Funhouse**

"_Carnival Mirror Vanity,_

_What I don't understand,_

_Is why you must kill girls like me,_

_Is this what you find grand?"_

_~Dayana_

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Shards of glass littered the ground. It's odd how quickly objects of fun can become instruments of pain.

"It's my fault. I put the mirrors up. Did you know that? I killed Emily."

Spencer's words were punctured with a sharp sob and by the crunch of glass beneath her heels.

"Hey!" Hanna took her friend by the shoulders and shook her roughly. "Stop it! Emily's not dead. What happened, it's not your fault. None us could have done anything."

I watched the exchange between my best friends from where I stood at the entrance to the hall. Emily had been carried out by paramedics only moments before. We'd found her, unconscious and bleeding, sprawled on the ground just moments after we heard her final cry for help. Of course, Toby was nowhere to be found. And, I glanced around, neither was Jenna.

"Guys?" My voice sounded odd even to me. "Don't you think we should go to the hospital?" I surveyed the mess around me. "There's not much we can do here."

Hanna braved a smile. "Aria's right. We need to be there for Emily when she wakes up."

"If she wakes up." Spencer kicked a piece of glass with the toe of her shoe.

"Stop it Spence." This time it was I who admonished my friend. "Negativity won't get us anywhere." Still, I couldn't be too harsh on Spencer. It was her way of dealing with it all. She needed someone to lash out at; we all did.

"Ready?"

Hanna nodded and Spencer sighed.

"Let's go."

Hand in hand we strolled out of the hallway, through the plastic cup strewn cafeteria, and out into the night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Got A Secret: Chapter Two: Off The Deep End**

_"The sinkhole was always there. It was just waiting for something to trigger it."_

_~Paul Pilney_

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I'd always hated waiting. It seems like the only thing I've done for the past two years.

Waiting for my dad to tell my mom.

Waiting for Alison.

Waiting for normal.

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting.

Yet it seems the more I wait, the less likely things become. Normal will never come. Alison will never to return to set things right again. And now I wait again. At least this time I am not alone.

"Do you want a coffee?" Hanna's voice is low, barely above a whisper.

I nodded.

"Me too." Spencer's grumble comes from beneath my jacket that has been crumpled into a pillow. .

"I'll be back in a minute."

Hanna rose and headed down the stark hallway, the click of her heels echoing loudly.

"Aria?"

Slowly, my eyes drifted to the soft voice. It's Emily's mom.

"Why don't you girls go home. Emily's..." Her voice cracks. "in surgery. They say it'll be a few hours before they're done. I'll call you the minute she's out."

"Are you sure? We can stay..."

"No. Go get some sleep. Tomorrow will be a long day."

I glance at my watch. It already is tomorrow.

Spencer lifts her head. "Alright. I'll take Hanna home with me. Aria, do you want to spend the night too?"

I shake my head. "No, I need to go home. Actually," I glance at my watch again, "I've got to go now. Have Hanna give Emily's mom my coffee?"

Brows furrowed in confusion, Spencer agrees.

"I'll see you later."

"Alright."

Jacket in hand, I head out into the darkness.

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I heard the yelling before I'd even unlocked the front door.

"You leave to give me space; to give me time to figure things out, and you spend the night with her! I can't even believe this!" My mother's words are punctuated by the shattering of glass as something is hurled against the wall.

I can't make out my father's response. Then again, I'm not sure if I want to.

I glance at the clock. 2:30 A.M. I can't help but wonder how long they've been going at it.

Though fatigue, accompanied with a pounding headache is beginning to set in, I briefly wonder if I can handle staying the night. As another of my mother's sobs echoes around the house, I know I cannot.

Haphazardly, I throw clothes and toiletries into a bag. The sweats I'd been forced to discard the previous day find their way back onto my body. Though the comfort they provide is minimal, it's enough to keep me going.

Tears brimming in my eyes, I leave the house. The last words I hear are from my mother.

"I want a divorce."


	3. Chapter 3

**Got A Secret: Chapter 3: Saving Self**

_"There is no feeling more comforting and consoling than knowing you are right next to the one you love."_

_~Author Unknown_

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The clouds that had been gathering all night, broke the moment I left my car in the parking lot. Perfect. Now, not only was I extremely tired, starving, and sick, I was also soaked.

Slowly I trudged up the stairs to Ezra's apartment. He wouldn't turn me away, not now, not after everything that had happened tonight; would he?

My knock was far louder than I had intended it to be. _Way to go Aria. Let's just wake the neighbors while your at it._

Less than two minutes later he opened the door. For a moment, I forgot the speech I'd prepared. There he stood, in all of his shirtless glory, hair tousled, and pants slung low on his hips.

"Aria?" His voice was thick with sleep, and I felt guilty for waking him.

"Ezra." And then the dam that had been holding back my tears all evening broke.

He stared at me for a moment, and then the wall he'd built around his heart in the past few days came crumbling down.

"Aria." I collapsed onto him, grateful for the comfort he was providing.

His arms tightened around me for a moment, before releasing me and taking my bag.

"Let's get you inside and into something dry. Then," he paused to brush tears from my cheeks, "you can tell me what's going on."

Ten minutes later, my drenched sweats had been replaced by a soft button down shirt of his. I sat cross-legged on his couch, brushing the tangles from my hair, as he heated up some leftover soup.

"Now," he handed me the bowl, "do you want to tell me what's happened."

"Ezra, you don't have to do this. I just need a place to stay, you can go back to bed. I'll be gone before your up, and I..."

"Hush."

"But.."

"Aria, what's going on?"

Then the tears came again. Stupid, damn tears. "Emily, and the hospital, and then my parents, and I just...I can't...do it anymore."

He sat beside me, and placed a reassuring arm around my shoulders. "Hey, where's that spirit I love?" He smiled, and brushed some of my tears away. "What happened to Emily?"

I set the soup on the table before me.

"There was an accident, in the hall of mirrors tonight. She's at the hospital now."

"She'll pull through."

"And your parents?"

"My mom wants a divorce. They were fighting when I got home, and I just couldn't stay."

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. At least I don't think I am. It's just hard, you know?"

Ezra sighed heavily. "I know."

"Ezra," I bit my lip in hesitation, "do you think you could hold me? Just for a little while?"

"Aria." His tone was terse, but he lay back on the couch and pulled me down beside him. "I meant what I said earlier, about you needing to see people your own age. I can't give you anything you deserve..."

"I don't need anything but you." Fearful of losing the last thing that I held dear, I shifted so that I was straddling him.

"But.."

"But nothing. I think you should let me decide what is best for me." I kissed the each side of his mouth teasingly before claiming his lips fully.

"Aria!" He pushed me away, sliding his hands down to rest on waist. "We can't do this."

"Tell me you don't feel the same. That you don't feel this huge gaping hole when we're not together. Say you don't love me, and I'll..." I swallowed thickly. "forget all of this ever happened."

He turned away, eyes fixated on an empty expanse of the wall opposite us.

_ "_Say it, Ezra."

"I can't, Aria! Don't you see that I could never ever hate you. I love you." He grabbed my shoulders roughly and shook them. "I love you."

The tears came again, but this time I did not curse them. "You love me?"

Abruptly, he crushed me down to his chest. "Foolish, foolish girl." He kissed my forehead. "Of course I do. How could I not?"

"Ezra, I love you too."

Tenderly, he cupped my face in his hands. Our lips met, and for just a moment, I allowed myself to forget about A, and Emily, and my parents.

Button, by button, his shirt fell from my body. His kisses became more urgent. Hands slid up from my hips, to my waist, to cup my lace clad breasts.

"So beautiful," he breathed. Lips burning my skin, his kisses began to trail over my cheek, along my neck, and down to my collar bone.

Experimentally, I rocked my hips against his. Instantly he froze.

"We should stop."

"No! I...Ezra, I want this. More than I've ever wanted anything before."

"I'm not saying never, Aria. I'm saying not tonight."

"Tomorrow?" He laughed then, and I realized at that moment how crucial he was to me.

I scooted off of him to allow him to stand, buttoning the shirt again in the process. Somewhat dejectedly, I watched him re-lock the door and switch off the lights, before he headed towards his bedroom.

So that's how it's going to be, I thought. Trying my best to ignore the ache that had reignited in my chest, I wrapped myself in the throw from the back of the couch.

"Aren't you coming?" Though I couldn't see his face, I could hear his smile in his voice.

Laughing, I rose and followed him into the bedroom.

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Reviews/suggestions/criticisms are always welcome!


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